“Bookfest’s board of directors has decided to discontinue Seattle’s embattled fall festival of books and authors. The festival’s office will close June 30, and its two remaining staff members will be let go. Many factors contributed to the festival’s demise, but the final blow was the requirement to come up with the $220,000 needed to mount this year’s festival, which would have been its 10th. Bookfest successfully eliminated its deficit — as much as $60,000 — during the last two years, but faced the prospect of going back into debt if it attempted to produce another edition of the festival.”